(Matthew Doarnberger, Headline USA) Israeli intelligence reports revealed that around 10% of staffers with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, which is responsible for providing assistance for nearly two million Gaza refugees, have ties to Islamic terrorist organizations, according to the New York Post.
The reports also claimed that 12 members were actively involved in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, in which Hamas raped, tortured and killed an estimated 1,200 Israelis while taking hostage more than 200 others.
In light of this information, the United States has temporarily suspended funding of the UNRWA. Great Britain, Japan and Austria have now joined the U.S. in halting their funding of the organization, as well. Together, these countries provided more than 60% of the organization’s budget for 2022.
“UNRWA’s problem is not just ‘a few bad apples’ involved in the Oct. 7 massacre—the institution as a whole is a haven for Hamas’ radical ideology,” said a senior Israeli government official.
Following the report, UNRWA fired nine of the 12 staffers accused of the Hamas attacks. Of the three remaining, two have since died, and the status of the third is unclear.
The agency’s Commissioner–General Philippe Lazzarini criticized the decision to halt funding following the Israeli report.
“Our humanitarian operation, on which 2 million people depend as a lifeline in Gaza, is collapsing,” Lazzarini said.
“I am shocked such decisions are taken based on alleged behavior of a few individuals and as the war continues, needs are deepening and famine looms,” he added. “Palestinians in Gaza did not need this additional collective punishment. This stains all of us.”
The United States had previously halted funding to the UNRWA under former President Donald Trump in 2018 due to how the Palestinians “continue to bash America” and that the agency itself was an “irredeemably flawed operation.”
Funding had been restored under the Biden administration in 2021. The president is now asking for an additional aid package for both Israel and the Palestinians.
